By: Monday Munkaila, Gombe
Journalists working in Nigeria have challenged to ensure that they stand resolute on the provision of Section 22 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended to ensure that Nigerians have periodical knowledge of the audited account of the governments at all levels.
The call was made by Sonala Olumhense in a paper his presented at a 2-day Audit Reporting Training organized by FrontFoot Media Initiative, holding in Gombe to X-ray State Government audit reports under the auspices of the Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism with Sponsorship of the Macarthur Foundation
In the paper titled ‘Audit Reporting Imperative for Nigerian Journalists’ Sonala Olumhense stressed the importance of the Journalists to be conversant and well versed with the Constitution in order to be able to use it as a document to report accurately and advocate for good governance.
The paper which was presented on his behalf by Chido Nwakanma, the seasoned Journalists stated that as Journalists, “We aim to sensitize our industry more deeply to this opportunity towards broadening the boundaries of transparency and accountability in our country.”
He added that, “It is to arm each reporter and each newsroom with an authority to which they may have paid scant attention.”
According to him, “To us as professionals falls the constitutional duty to remind politicians, perennially and perpetually, that they work for the people and must account to them.”
Stressing the power of Section 22, he stressed that, “In the end, Section 22 means that Journalists have a most important weapon or power to use over politicians in the public interest.”
He however warned that, “But it comes with a caveat: it is a weapon which grows weaker every time a Journalist permits himself or herself to be compromised in the cause of a story, whether because that Journalist accepts a favour to change key elements in it, or not to publish it at all.”
The famous columnist added that,”The call of Section 22 on Journalists is that it is powered, therefore, only by our individual and collective courage, and by the Individual and collective courage of every newsroom in our Industry.”
“It is why we can read every audit report with authority, ask questions of Auditors-General and Assemblymen and Assemblywomen with confidence, and write our findings with unimpeachable thoroughness and credibility,” he declared.
At the end, Sonala Olumhense expressed confidence that by holding on to the provision of section 22 of the Constitution, Journalists in Nigeria can change the narrative about audit report of the country and make the leaders sit up to know that they owe the general public, explanations about the resources available and how they are expended.
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In his own opening remarks, another veteran Journalist, Sully Abu urged Journalists to hold government accountable for their actions as well as form positive attitudes and actions in the society by focusing on Audit reporting.
According to Sully Abu, Journalism is the most powerful profession in the world that has the ability to bring change in the society through well informed reports.
He said that Audit Reporting is a powerful platform for journalists to hold government accountable as accountability at the National, State and local government level of national interest to the people.
According to him, “State Governors are very powerful personalities in the country because have the control of state resources at their disposal which they use to do so many things in their states, but the question is, are the people in government doing what they supposed to be doing?”
” We have the responsibility as journalists to speak up for the common man in the streets by doing reports that holds the government accountable to them,” he added
According to him, “We also have the responsibility to adhere strictly to the ethics of the profession to rescue the nation because we have a collapsed society.We cannot just sit there and be grumbling about what is not working in the country, we can do something about it through our reports”
Sully Abu added that, “Most state government spend money anyhow and they are able to do so because nobody is paying attention to the audit report of the state.This is where we as journalists can come in and do reports, let us compare how the Governors, local government Chairmen and other public officials have performed and do reports that will hold them accountable.”
“As a journalist, you may not own a Rolls Royce vehicle or live in a mansion, but we can make sacrifices to make a change in our society which is important.We need constant training, we need to be updated about what is going on around us in the world and this programme is platform for us to learn and know our roles in the society” he said.
